PELAKITA.ID – Political ecology is an interdisciplinary field that explores the complex relationship between politics, power, and the environment.
It emerged as a critical response to apolitical explanations of environmental change, challenging the idea that ecological issues can be understood only through natural science or technical solutions.
Instead, political ecology emphasizes that environmental problems are deeply shaped by social, political, and economic forces, making it essential to examine who benefits, who loses, and how decisions about nature are made.
At its core, political ecology questions dominant narratives about environmental issues. For instance, deforestation is often blamed on local communities or population growth, but political ecologists argue that the causes are more structural.
Large-scale logging, plantation agriculture, global trade, and state policies play a far greater role than small-scale farmers. By highlighting these dimensions, political ecology reveals how power relations and economic interests drive ecological change, often at the expense of marginalized groups.
The field also focuses on the politics of resource access and control. Natural resources such as land, forests, fisheries, and water are not neutral assets but contested spaces where competing interests intersect.
Political ecology investigates how laws, policies, and markets shape who gains access and who is excluded, showing that environmental conflicts are frequently struggles over justice, equity, and survival. These conflicts often reflect wider historical legacies of colonialism, capitalism, and state-building, which continue to influence environmental governance today.
Another central theme is the critique of “apolitical ecology.” Traditional conservation approaches, such as the creation of protected areas, often ignore the social realities of local communities.
By excluding people from their ancestral lands in the name of biodiversity protection, such policies can produce displacement and poverty.
Political ecology exposes these hidden costs and advocates for approaches that recognize local knowledge, community rights, and the uneven impacts of environmental interventions.
Political ecology is not only about critique; it also offers alternative ways of thinking about sustainability and development. By linking ecology with questions of power and justice, it highlights the need for inclusive governance, participatory decision-making, and recognition of diverse cultural and ecological practices.
This perspective opens pathways toward more equitable and sustainable futures that do not sacrifice the well-being of vulnerable groups for the sake of growth or conservation.
In essence, political ecology broadens our understanding of environmental change beyond technical fixes and natural science explanations.
It situates ecological problems within global systems of power, exposing the political and economic drivers behind environmental degradation. By doing so, it provides tools for imagining solutions that are not only ecologically sound but also socially just.
Source: Inspired by lecture of Prof Muhammad Saleh Ali (Unhas)